04.26.09

Spring Onions…

Posted in Romesco Sauce, Veggies at 9:28 am by cecilia

Not scallions (or green onions), not leeks - All Photos by Cecilia

Spring brings a bounty of new produce options at the market. Lately, I can’t get enough of these sweet and tender spring onions. How do I eat them? I char the heck out of them on the grill or under a broiler. I heard that they cook better in open flames. Some suggest olive oil and seasoning, but you don’t really need to put anything on them before cooking. Rotate the onions once after the first 20 minutes or so depending on how hot your grill or oven gets, making sure they have turned dark/black on the outside. Then leave them there for another 20 minutes, give or take. The blackened burnt outer layer will naturally keep the inner layers moist, tender, and juicy while they cook. To finish, remove them from the grill or oven and put them in a heat-proof container. Seal it with a cover or plastic wrap. Or simply wrap them in clean newspaper or aluminum foil a small bunch at a time. The heat from the onions will continue steaming themselves and keeping them warm. Thanks to my friend Rachel (a.k.a. The Intrepid Culinologist), I fell in love with the classic Romesco sauce a while ago when she introduced me to it during her sauce-making project at work. This exotically nutty and tangy sauce deserves its own post later on. In Spain, particularly in the Barcelona area, lots of restaurants serve Romesco sauce with their local spring onions. They call these white spring onions calçots (pronounced kal-sots). Every spring, thousands of these calçots are cooked outdoors and sold to be eaten on premise. These massive spring onion eating events are called calçotadas. Patrons will remove the outer layer to reveal the white tender onion heart which will be dipped in the Romesco or a similar sauce. Then in the mouth it goes in its entirety minus the tougher green stem. You know the age old saying: A YouTube video is worth a million words. Here’s a good one from the Calçotada Festival in Valls which is not far from Barcelona.

I’m not going to Spain soon enough so I have to make them the way I can at home.

During and after cooking

You can find these sweet bulbs at some Whole Foods stores. It’s best to call ahead to make sure. As long as they’re in season, I’d be more than happy to make the sauce and enjoy the onions with you if you bring them over. Or could it be another good cooking party idea? What do you think?

Happy and healthy eating!

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